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Mr. Monk's 100th Case
Mr. Monk's 100TH Case is the seventh episode of the seventh season of Monk. It is also the series' 100th episode. Plot A television news magazine called "In Focus" is airing a profile of Adrian Monk, and Monk is at the home of the show’s host, James Novak, for a viewing party. Natalie, Stottlemeyer, and Disher are all there to celebrate Monk’s big television debut. "In Focus" follows Monk as he tries to solve his one hundredth case, and the show is interspersed with interviews of Monk’s friends, family, and even some of the criminals he’s helped put away over the years. As shown on "In Focus," the case begins when Monk is called to investigate the death of an aspiring actress who’s been strangled to death in the lobby of her apartment building. Monk notices that the victim’s lipstick is missing from her purse, and after some more investigation, he deduces that the victim knew the person who killed her. Unfortunately, there are no leads in the case, and days later another young actress is murdered, also strangled. Again, there are no signs of forced entry, and again the victim’s lipstick is missing. The two victims both worked at the same restaurant, but a trip to the establishment turns up nothing. The case continues to confound when a third young woman turns up dead. It’s another actress, killed the same way, but there appears to be no connection between this latest victim and the previous two. Then, Monk makes a keen observation: all three women had head-shot photos taken by the same photographer, a man named Douglas Thurman. Thurman is called in for questioning, but with little evidence against him, the police are forced to let him go. The police get a warrant to search his photography studio, where they find all they need to make an arrest: an eerie shrine to the three victims, each woman's portrait having her lipstick smeared on it. Unfortunately, Thurman has disappeared, and soon after the raid another woman, Kate Kindel, turns up dead, and all signs point to Thurman once more. The authorities finally catch up with Thurman at a motel and surround him, but he chooses to kill himself rather than surrender. Thurman’s reign of terror appears to be over, and the episode of “In Focus” wraps up to a round of applause from those at the viewing party. But Monk has been unable to join the party, feeling that he's missed something important, and he begins to think aloud at the party. The circumstances of Kate Kindel’s death don’t fit with the rest of the case: Kindel was killed north of San Francisco, while Douglas Thurman was fleeing south, towards Mexico. Kindel was strangled from behind, not in front, like the previous three victims. Monk is convinced that while Douglas Thurman killed the first three victims, the fourth victim, Kate Kindel, was killed by someone else. Then Monk has an idea. He asks to rewind the episode of “In Focus,” which has been digitally recorded, to the scene where the police raid Douglas Thurman’s studio. Monk notices a crucial detail: comparing "before" and "after" shots as the camera moves back and forth across the studio, he notices a roll of film that was planted sometime after the police entered - the one on which pictures of Kate Kindel were found. Then, Monk asks to fast forward to a scene in Kate Kindel’s apartment. In the scene, when Monk asks for someone to turn on a light, James Novak knows exactly which switch to flick. Monk concludes that Novak had been in Kindel’s apartment before. Earlier in the episode, there have been repeat signs that there is trouble in paradise: Novak flirts shamelessly with several of the women at the party, including Randy's new girlfriend Jillian, an aspiring actress who specializes in being murdered on camera (including the re-enactment of Kate Kindel's murder for the show). When he has her in a corner, Jillian acts embarrassed over a gaffe she has made, and Novak soothes her that everyone makes mistakes - his, he confides, was his wife, Melissa. Here's What Happened Monk concludes that it was Novak, not Thurman, who killed Kindel. Novak was having an affair with Kindel, and wanted her dead when things began to go bad. With access to inside details from the murder investigation, Novak knew the serial killer's M.O., and decided it would be easy to frame him for one more death. On the night she died, Novak went to Kindel's apartment, tricked her into posing for some photographs, then he strangled her from behind and took her lipstick. Then, while following the raid of Thurman's studio, he planted the roll of film, to make her appear to be just another unlucky client of the homicidal photographer. Natalie chides Novak for not paying attention to his own show: Monk is never wrong, and he misses nothing. Novak scoffs, saying there is no proof. But Melissa coldly interjects that, on the night of Kindel's death, she went through James's pockets after he came home, late at night, and found a lipstick. If the lipstick tests positive for Kindel’s DNA, which it obviously will, Novak is caught. As Melissa hands the lipstick to Randy, Novak pulls out a gun and orders him to hand it over. Randy, exchanging a glance with Stottlemeyer, tosses the lipstick, distracting Novak for the second Stottlemeyer neads to sneak beside him, grab the gun, and deck Novak with a punch. The gun goes off, and Jillian crumples, clutching her side. Randy panics and yells for an ambulance, but then Jillian realizes that she's untouched, and apologizes - "force of habit" she explains. Randy compliments her on her performance, and the two kiss lovingly - leaving the rest of the company baffled. Later, Natalie triumphantly reads the ironic newspaper story of Novak's arrest. Monk, reflecting that one hundred cases is a nice, even number, considers retiring from detective work. Natalie reminds him that the cases of Douglas Thurman and James Novak are separate from one another, meaning that Monk has in fact solved a hundred and one. With Monk standing on such an uneven number, he won’t be retiring any time soon, which is very bad news for the criminals of San Francisco. Background Information and Notes *The opening montage features crime-scene photos of Debbie Ringel and Tony Gamelobo, the featured victims of "Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan" and "Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure, respectively. *Brooke Adams, Tony Shalhoub's real-life wife, reprises her role as flight attendant Leigh Harrison from Season One's "Mr. Monk and the Airplane." Adams played three other characters on the show, Abigail Carlyle from Season Three's "Mr. Monk and the Kid", Sheriff Margie Butterworth from Season Five's "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm" and Mrs. Edith Capriani in "Mr. Monk and the Badge." * The criminals caught by Monk interviewed in prison include: **Jimmy Belmont from "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm"; **Arlene Boras from "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man"; **Joey Krenshaw (Harold's cousin) from "Mr. Monk and the Daredevil"; **"Father" Ralph Roberts from "Mr. Monk Joins a Cult"; **Hal Tucker from "Mr. Monk Makes a Friend" *Also, Linda Fusco makes a cameo appearance after being caught for murder in "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend." *Sarah Silverman re-appears as Marci Maven from "Mr. Monk and the TV Star" and "Mr. Monk and his Biggest Fan" (although at the end of the latter episode she claimed that she had gotten over her obsession with Monk). *Kathryn Joosten played Nurse Stempel in Season Two's "Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect"; this makes her the third actress, after Brooke Adams and Gail O'Grady, to play two different characters on the show. *John Turturro's third and final appearance as Ambrose Monk. *Jarrad Paul makes an uncredited appearance as Kevin Dorfman. *During the last scene, Monk and Natalie are scanning the newspaper headlines for other likely cases to solve. Monk notices an item about a "TV Writer Shot Dead After Contract Dispute" - a possible inside joke on the show's writing staff. 7.07